This recap includes spoilers for season two of “Nobody Wants This.” If you’d like to share your opinion about this episode or any aspect of season two, subscribe to our Substack, Jewish TV Club and join us in the chat!
Noah and Joanne are chilling on a museum lawn, parallel playing on their respective cell phones, when who bounds over but Gabe! Yes, Gabe as in the husband of Abby Loves Smoothies — except he announces he is no longer filling that role! “Instagram is fake,” he says, and he and Abby are over. Noah offers his counseling to Gabe, to talk about possible solutions. Gabe reluctantly agrees and strolls away. Joanne is ready to set Abby up with someone now, but Noah really wants to rescue the relationship. Hmm.
Noah leaves Joanne to see Batya — that’s Lynn’s Hebrew name. She wants to do conversion classes at Temple Ahava because she loves Noah. Noah says conversion typically takes a year, but Cami says it can take as little as 6 months at Ahava, and that the temple doesn’t charge anyone for conversion.
Lynn tells Cami and Noah she’s been reading up on Jewish topics and asks them to quiz her about them — and she shows that she’s got some pretty expansive Jewish knowledge. She knows the lulav and etrog are waved around on Sukkot, she knows the name of Moses’ wife Zipporah, and even makes the Sephora brand name connection. This may be the most in the weeds the show has gotten about Judaism this season! Cami is obsessed with Lynn, and can’t wait to shoo her through that fast track to to becoming a Jew. Noah seems really disappointed not to be able to lean into the learning he loves so much about Judaism; it’s pretty clear Ahava is not the right fit for him.
Dr. Andy and Morgan finish up a lunch date together, and he begins to launch into a story about a current patient. Morgan pushes back, saying it violates patient confidentiality, but then something even worse happens: They run into Dr. Andy’s ex… who also… is an ex-patient. Apparently — and also maybe unsurprisingly — this is Dr. Andy’s MO. I have to say, therapists taking advantage of their patients just can’t become funny to me, despite how much I love this show. Sorry, I hate this story line.
Joanne and Lynn go hiking and Lynn doesn’t understand why Joanne doubts the fact that she is Jewish — “I am Jewish, I am sure… I’m sure, sure sure. Are you asking this because I’m converting, or because you are not?” Lynn wonders. And well, we know it’s a little of both; Joanne is used to her mother always waffling on things, yet here is something she is genuinely and believably passionate about… and it’s the one thing tearing Joanne’s relationship apart.
“I feel it,” Lynns says when Joanne asks her how she knows, and it sucks for Joanne with all her conflicting feelings about Judaism. “You may have to go at your own speed, inch by inch,” Lynn tells her.
But Lynn is certain her daughter will get there. “I have faith,” she says.
“Quit bragging about it,” Joanne replies.
Morgan stops by Joanne’s apartment to drop off some of her stuff as they continue ignoring each other, and while she’s there she tells Fabrizio about the podcast episode in which he gets a mention, not realizing it is about to get Joanne in major trouble with her landlord. Meanwhile, Lynn and Henry go over to Noah’s for a double date dinner. Lynn says Ahava feels like the perfect place for her.
“It has groovy vibes,” Noah admits, and says he loves groovy vibes, when we know full well he’s no Danny Zuko (what’s up with all the “Grease” references in this season, by the way?). Joanne and Lynn talk about their commitment issues and we learn that Joanne went to four different high schools.
Esther gets coffee with Rebecca, Noah’s ex, who spills about her dating misadventures. She feels like she ‘s in a better place and is glad Noah broke up with her, which, after that Valentine’s Day conversation, of course she is. Honestly, I love Rebecca and I want more of her next season, please.
While Esther is out with her BFF, Sasha gets a call from his: Morgan. She needs his advice about Dr. Andy. Sasha’s great advice is to steal Dr. Andy’s phone and see what his algorithm is like to figure out if he is or isn’t a good guy. (I think the answer has been clear since episode one, but OK.)
Back at the BFF catch-up sesh, Esther complains about wanting to be fun and not exactly succeeding, and talks about her conflict in her relationship with Sasha. Rebecca reveals that the two got married after getting pregnant and when they were so young. “Is Sasha who I would pick today?” Esther wonders. I mean, a man who can make a mullet look good and who takes dance classes for you does sound like a good pick, but you do you, Esther!
Sasha and Morgan try to make up a lie to get the Apple Genius to hack into Dr. Andy’s phone, but Terry from the Genius Bar is not buying it. He does point out that if they’re trying to hack the phone so badly, perhaps Morgan has her answer about trust, and Morgan says he really is a genius.
The pair go get ice cream instead and commiserate. Sasha drops some truth bombs about Bina — “Everyone thinks that my mom is so direct and that she says what she means, but she says what she wants,” he says — and wow, that line is actually pretty profound about boundary-less mothers. He also talks about how devastated he feels about the distance between him and Esther. When they changed the subject to the podcast and Sasha brings up how much he loved the bit about Fabrizio and hopes that he doesn’t ever hear it, we see a realization dawn on Morgan’s face. Uh oh.
Joanne asks Noah to be honest about Ahava and how he doesn’t love it — the groovy vibes and the way he says “Neil and Cami” in a certain tone gave it away, she tells him. He confronts her about her fight with Morgan. The two end up having a conversation about marriage, and Noah voices his concern about how willing Joanne is to let someone like Gabe give up on his marriage. He wonders how that will affect their relationship when they get married, but Joanne tells him how all her life, all she has dreamed of is the normalcy and the stability that he offers. She says that’s the dream: “Wanting to have sex with someone who makes you feel safe.”
In their meeting, Gabe tries to preempt Noah’s schmaltz, but the rabbi shows up with an open mind. It’s clear his conversations with Joanne have impacted him.
When Joanne and Noah debrief about it, she asks him what he things Gabe is going to do after their conversation; he says that he doesn’t know. “That’s the thing about Judaism,” he says. “We love to talk about things from every direction.”
“I love analyzing things from every direction,” Joanne says, and Noah tells her it’s very Jewish of her. Without Noah seeing, she sends a quick text to Lynn, or should we say, Batya: “I think I just moved an inch.”
Noah tells her she makes him a better rabbi, which, aw, as they walk up to find an eviction notice on Joanne’s door. Drama!
The wins
I love Lynn’s growing love of Judaism, and I do agree that Judaism is about looking at everything from different directions.
The icks
Dr. Andy.
The trouble between Esther and Sasha makes me so sad.